KATHMANDU: Health, Environment and Climate Action Foundation (HECAF 360) has provided 30 ventilators and other health supplies including personal protective equipment and tens of thousands of gowns, gloves and masks.
The ventilator and equipment have a value of over 1.27 million and were gifted to HECAF by the Tzu Chi Foundation, a Buddhist international non-governmental organization.
The donated equipment and health materials were handed over to the Ministry of Health and Population on Wednesday.
Mahesh Nakarmi, Chairman and Director of HECAF 360, who first partnered with the Tzu Chi Foundation in 1994, expressed deep gratefulness to the Tzu Chi Foundation for extending this vital support at the time of need. He believed that this assistance will help save lives of COVID-19 patients.
In addition, the Tzu Chi Foundation has provided funds for more than 200 food ration packages containing rice, lentils and other basic food items. Each package contains 2,100 kilocalories and can feed 1,000 people for more than a week.
HECAF has distributed food ration packages to more than 200 families of sick, disabled or blind and to single women heads of households, workers who have lost their jobs, orphanages, shelters for elderly people of Banasthali community, in collaboration with KMC Ward No 16 and Community Development Association.
The Tzu Chi Foundation started Flatten the Curve Campaign to provide life-saving equipment to hospitals and institutions around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation was founded in 1966 by a Buddhist nun, Dharma Master Cheng Yen. It has 10 million volunteers and supporters in 63 countries.
As a Buddhist organization, the Tzu Chi Foundation has a special connection with Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha. During the 1993 flood, the Foundation rebuilt 1,800 houses for Nepali flood victims.
It has funded a special dialysis unit at the TU Teaching Hospital, as well as one each dialysis unit in Manthali and Lumbini. It also provided relief in the aftermath of the devastating 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.
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